Hunt on Dark Waters (Crimson Sails 1) by Katee Robert-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 7, 2023

Evelyn is a witch with a perfect storm of impulses: terrible taste in bed partners, sticky fingers, and a lust for danger. After she steals from her vampire ex and falls through a portal to another realm, she’s fished out of the waters by a band of seafarers and their telekinetic captain. She’s immediately given a choice—join their ship’s crew or die.

Bowen has no memory of his life before he became one of the Cŵn Annwn. He and his band of pirates are bound by vow to patrol through Threshold, the magical sea in between realms, keeping the portals to other worlds safe. When he rescues Evelyn, he doesn’t expect to be attracted to the unflappably brassy pickpocket. The longer he spends in her presence, the more he begins to question if his heart is the next thing she’ll steal.

But as tension heats up between Bowen and Evelyn, the danger at sea escalates as well. Because Evelyn has no intention of keeping her vows to the Cŵn Annwn, and if she betrays the crew, both she and Bowen will pay the ultimate price….

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REVIEW: HUNT ON DARK WATERS is the first instalment in Katee Robert’s adult CRIMSON SAILS erotic, paranormal/ fantasy series. This is Evelyn, a witch and a thief, and pirate captain Bowen’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the storyline premise, including implied same sex, LGBTQ+ romance, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Evelyn and Bowen) HUNT ON DARK WATERS follows Evelyn as she is forced to escape the wrath of her vampire girlfriend’s family but before jumping into a portal, Evelyn takes what doesn’t belong. Landing in the realm known as Threshold, Evelyn is rescued by a group of pirates known as the Cwn Annwn, but all does not go according to plan when she is forced to swear allegiance before breaking the rules. On the run, in search of a portal home, Evelyn and Bowen find themselves the target of the Cwn Annwn, another ship full of pirates, and a vampire who is hoping for the return of what Evelyn took.

The world building introduces several supernatural and magical species, not all of whom accept our story line couple. From marauding mermaids, to Dragons caught between right and wrong, HUNT ON DARK WATERS focuses on the fine line between morality and perversion. The Cwn Annwn are hunters, taking down the monsters of the seas but the power of the chase is threatening the innocent and the uninvolved.

The relationship between Bowen and Evelyn is one of immediate attraction but Bowen knows that to protect the woman with whom he is falling in love, she must abide by the laws of the seas, laws that Evelyn is too quick to break right out of the gate. The $ex scenes are intimate and provocative without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Evelyn’s former lover Lizzie the vampire as well as a large ensemble cast of magical and powerful pirates, sea creatures, and supernatural entities. Lizzie’s story line is next.

HUNT ON DARK WATERS is a story of power and control, magic and mayhem, betrayal and vengeance, acceptance and love. The premise is entertaining and enchanting; the romance is challenging in that I did not feel the palpable sexual attraction; the characters are desperate and powerful but Evelyn was quite unlikeable in the early stages of the relationship, placing our couple in a number of dangerous situations.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title, The Marriage Contract, was a RITA finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it ‘a compulsively readable book with just the right amount of suspense and tension.”  When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

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